‘Any support is helpful.’ SLO restaurant to host fundraiser for employees hit by Maui fire

Zack Corpuel and his family own the beloved ‘50s-style diner, Cool Cat Cafe with locations in San Luis Obispo, Pismo Beach and — until August’s devastating fires — Maui.

Now the restaurant owner is hoping to give back with a fundraiser this weekend meant to help the business’s Hawaii employees rebuild their lives.

Cool Cat Cafe and neighboring restaurant Captain Jack’s Island Grill, also owned by the Corpuel family, were destroyed in the Lahaina wildfires in August. All 120 employees at the Maui restaurants are now without jobs and many lost their homes and belongings, Corpuel said.

On Sunday, the San Luis Obispo location on 3165 Broad St. will host a fundraiser from noon to 4 p.m. to support the restaurant’s “Maui ohana.” The event will feature live music, raffles, face painting, a silent auction and food and drinks.

“It is going to be a very long road to recovery,” Corpuel told The Tribune. “Any support is helpful.”

‘Absolutely heartbreaking devastation.’ Cool Cat owner describes Maui fire

The Lahaina locations are particularly important to Corpuel, who said he grew up around an “amazing community” in Maui that he credits with making him who he is today.

Corpuel was in California when the devastating fires hit the area, leaving many without power and cell reception.

Fortunately, all of Corpuel’s friends and the restaurants’ employees survived the fires and are safe and accounted for. However, because of the chaos and lack of cell reception, it took Corpuel and his family a couple of days to get in contact with everyone.

“You can never really prepare for a catastrophe like this,” Corpuel said. “The first week was just absolutely heartbreaking devastation. Being out here, made me feel helplessness almost and have some sort of survivor’s guilt.”

Corpuel said it has been challenging to reconcile the grief and loss with the need for action. Ultimately, though, he said the grief alone wasn’t productive.

“You have to try to harness that sadness into actually being productive and helping,” Corpuel said.

In the aftermath of the fires, Corpuel and his family started a GoFundMe page to raise money for their staff and crew in Maui.

As of Friday, that GoFundMe has amassed nearly $145,000 — all of which is being distributed among the staff.

Corpuel said the outpouring of love and support from the Central Coast community so far has been “amazing.”

In addition to donating, Central Coast customers have told Corpuel’s family happy stories of their trips visiting Cool Cat Cafe in Maui, he said.

“It was a special place to a lot of people, which means the world to us,” Corpuel said.

Though the support has been inspiring to Corpuel, he said the rebuilding efforts in Lahaina will take years. With the way the news cycles out, Corpuel said he fears people will be quick to forget the devastation in Maui.

“They are still searching for bodies,” he said. “We need to keep the show of support going.”

All proceeds from Sunday’s event will go to the rebuilding efforts of the Maui staff. For those who cannot attend the event but would like to donate, the GoFundMe is still actively accepting donations.

“There will be lots of opportunities to help and donate and volunteer,” Corpuel said. “I just encourage everybody to just keep aware of it.“